1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printer.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a typical example of a thermal printer, in a printer of drawing out recording paper from a recording paper roll and performing printing on the recording paper, there are known a number of printers in which a printer cover is coupled in an openable and closable manner to a housing accommodating the recording paper roll so as to allow easy setting of the recording paper roll.
Thermal printers are often used within locations of restaurants or like. In this case, liquid such as water adhering to the hands of the user and water scattering from the kitchen or the like may enter the interior of the printer through a boundary portion between the housing and the printer cover, and adhere to the recording paper or a circuit board. Adhesion of liquid to the recording paper, the circuit board or the like becomes a factor causing poor printing and electronic component failure. Accordingly, protection of a printer from liquid (hereinafter referred to as “drip-proof”) is demanded, for example a printer is demanded to have a structure preventing entrance of water into the interior, and a structure capable of discharging water having entered the interior of the printer without adhesion of the water to the recording paper, the circuit board or the like.
For example, as this type of printer, there is known a printer which includes a paper discharge recess on an upper surface of a printer housing, a slit-shaped paper discharge opening which is provided within the paper discharge recess and through which a sheet after printing is discharged from the inside of the paper discharge recess to the outside of the printer housing, and a water discharge groove formed so as to be along the paper discharge opening and at a position lower than the paper discharge opening within the paper discharge recess. This printer is expected to be capable of preventing entrance of water through the paper discharge opening, and also capable of positively discharging water within the water discharge groove.
Currently, it is desired to reduce the footprint of a thermal printer and to decrease the printer size as much as possible in order to improve the handling easiness for the user. For reducing the size of a printer, it is necessary to provide a printer mechanism including a printing head, a platen roller and the like, a cover opening/closing operation mechanism for locking and releasing a printer cover, a control unit for controlling the operation of the printer, and the like in a limited space inside the housing.
According to the technology of the related-art printer discussed above, however, the water discharge groove is formed so as to be at a position lower than the paper discharge opening, and thus such configuration is adopted that the paper discharge recess is set in the interior of the housing. Therefore, the size of the housing may increase by the space of the paper discharge recess. Accordingly, there remains a problem in the related art, in terms of securing a drip-proof property while suppressing increase in the size of the printer.
Under the above circumstances, there is desired in the art a printer capable of suppressing increase in the size of the printer and also capable of securing a drip-proof property.